Nat Rothschild: investor with a gift for digging up troubleThe Observer, 30 Sep 2012Simon GoodleyWith Bumi, his recently floated mining operation, hit by scandal, the son of a banking dynasty is in the headlines again… of around $20bn to around $5bn, which it returned to clients in 2009. Investors wer riled by the fund's treatment of a $1bn investment in Deutsche Börse, which Atticus separated from its main funds: clients argued that this limited their ability to withdraw…

Zynga is cutting staff for the first time in the social-games maker's brief history, by parting ways with about 5% of its workforce.

Zynga Chief Executive Mark Pincus said in a note to employees that the firm is shutting its Boston studio, and may close studios in Japan and the U.K. It also plans to cut staff at its Austin, Texas, studio. Zynga will "sunset" 13 games and cut investment in "The Ville," a game released in June, Mr. Pincus wrote.

Only a few months ago, traders and investors were fretting about whether tensions in the Middle East and production problems elsewhere would lead to a shortage of crude oil. Now, many are worried there may be too much.

Forecasters say that in the fourth quarter, global oil output will top demand by more than 630,000 barrels a day, the biggest surplus in four years. The jump is due to a confluence of events: Turmoil in the Middle East has subsided along with the production and transportation problems that had been stifling oil flows from the U.S., North Sea and Africa. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is pumping more oil to replace falling Iranian exports, keeping output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries steady.

Last week, chart watchers were discussing how major market indexes were threatening to move below their respective 50-day moving averages. In fact, I wrote that the Nasdaq lost its battle in Monday's column (see Getting Technical, "Is the Party Ending for Stocks?" Oct. 22).After a rough few days, the Nasdaq is taking it a step further and is already testing its 200-day average (see Chart 1). A breakdown there would be very bad news.

Even professionals who do not rely on technical analysis to make their investment decisions keep the 200-day average in mind. It is an objective way to measure trends whether we are in a bull or bear market. Although not a perfect marker, when prices are above the 200-day average, the major trend is considered to be up. And conversely, when prices are below the average, the major trend is down.Of course there is more to it. But over time, this simple test keeps you invested in bull markets and out of stocks during bear markets. Should the Nasdaq drop below its average and stay there for several days, money managers could start to change to more defensive strategies. In other words, selling pressure, or supply, could increase and buying pressure, or demand, could decrease. Economics tells us the rest. Prices would have a good reason to continue lower.The Nasdaq, as with the Standard & Poor's 500, is not a homogeneous index. While technology is very heavily represented, other sectors also make their marks. Several of these groups look quite weak.The Nasdaq's problems go beyond just a two-month slide in its 800-pound gorilla component, Apple (ticker: AAPL). Sectors from computers to telecoms to Internet services are moving below their respective 200-day moving averages, and if this continues, the selling might snowball.I have written here over the past few weeks that semiconductors have been leading the decline. The sector's giant, Intel (INTC), is down roughly 26% since peaking in May. And chips are not alone. Amazon.com (AMZN) lost about 10% since peaking earlier this month. Google (GOOG) shed about the same in just two days last week.Earnings bombs have fallen on other big-tech names from Microsoft (MSFT) toInternational Business Machines (IBM). While the latter is not traded on the Nasdaq, it certainly speaks to the overall weakness in the tech sector and the Nasdaq by extension.Aside from computer hardware and software stocks, there are other groups that are in trouble. The Nasdaq Telecommunications Index, for example, comprised of 145 networking and communications stocks, lagged the broad market all year. Last week, it moved below a key chart support as well as its 200-day moving average (see Chart 2).

After breaking down in April, the sector index continued to slide. And when shares of component stock Cisco Systems (CSCO) collapsed in early May, the sector index plunged, too. It was never able to recover, and last week it moved below a three-month trading range in a new breakdown move. This index can fall an additional 10% from current levels before it finds the floor defined by major lows in 2012 and 2011.Finally, storage stocks such as disk-drive maker Western Digital (WDC) have been in decline since August and are below respective 200-day averages. And NetApp (NTAP), which provides data storage and services in the emerging "cloud computing" area, is trading at its lowest level since 2009.The Nasdaq must pick itself up soon or its negative conditions can easily spread to the rest of the market.

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October 25, 2012 6:27 pmA Finnish parallel currency is imaginable

By Gillian Tett

In the past couple of years, as the eurozone woes have unfolded, international investors have been transfixed by one small country on the edge of the region:Greece.They would do well to keep watching another tiddler: Finland. For while Finland has not created much drama, precisely because it is one of the strongest eurozone members, some fascinating discussions are under way. Most notably, as the eurozone crisis rumbles on, some Finnish business and government officials are quietly mulling the logistics of leaving the currency union.